Full mouth opening flow wrapper package

ABSTRACT

The disclosure pertains to method for manufacturing reclosable packages, bags or pouches using a flow wrapper machine wherein, typically, a self-mating reclosure or zipper sealed inside of the package. In a first embodiment, self-mating reclosures are placed transversely on the web and a flow wrapping machine wraps the web around the food product thereby forming a machine direction fin seal. Transverse direction end seals are likewise formed. In a second embodiment, the web includes quad seals formed by a drag sealer at positions which will become corners of the package. Similar to the method of the first embodiment, the flow wrapping machine wraps the web around the food product thereby forming a fin seal.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/036,378 filed on Feb. 28, 2011 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application 61/329,400, filed on Apr. 29, 2010. This application is further a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/193,030 filed on Jul. 28, 2011 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/368,496 filed Jul. 28, 2010, the disclosures of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure pertains to zippered reclosable packages, such as, but not limited to, flow wrapper packages with a wide mouth opening feature and/or easy open and/or easy close features.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Wide mouth gusseted packages are disclosed by U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2007/0258665 entitled “Wide Mouth Gusseted Packages”, published on Nov. 8, 2007 on behalf of Greco. While the Greco reference is well-adapted for its intended purposes, further improvements are sought with respect to simplifying the manufacturing process, particularly in transverse direction (TD) applications.

In the prior art, many food items are packed using flow wrapper technology. For example, chunk cheese may be packaged using flow wrapper technology. Typically, the film fits tightly around the product leaving little or no room for a reclosure. In the past, webless zipper has been used in the machine direction, but due to the size and shape of the product, the zipper closure was frequently not satisfactorily effective and not user friendly. These deficiencies were further exacerbated by the way consumers typically consume the chunk cheese. That is, typically, the user slices the cheese from an end of the chunk, meaning that the portion returned to the package still does not fit well.

Similarly, one of the notable pouch styles available to the industry is the box pouch, a flexible pouch formed in such a way that it holds a box shape. Pouches of this style are typically produced on a Totani-type pouch machine in a complicated process requiring multiple film webs. A reclosure can be added, but this has been limited to a standard transverse direction zipper in the past, resulting in a package with an opening of a reduced size. The process is typically complex and the machinery used to produce the box pouch is expensive.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide improvements in wide mouth reclosable flow wrapper packages or bags.

It is therefore a further object of the present disclosure to provide improvements in the manufacture of wide mouth reclosable flow wrapper packages.

These and other objects are attained in a first embodiment of the disclosure by placing a full mouth opening reclosure in the cross section of the package. As a result, the end user can move the product into and out of the package more efficiently as well as achieving a positive reclosure of the package.

These and other objects are attained in a second embodiment of the disclosure by preforming the corners of a box pouch with quad seals and placing a full mouth opening reclosure in the cross section of the package, the resultant web can be run through a conventional flow wrapper machine to produce a box pouch with a full mouth open and close.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the reclosures placed in a transverse direction on a web in a first embodiment of the disclosure, prior to entering the flow wrapper apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a front of the resulting package.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a rear of the resulting package.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of quad seals applied to the film in a second embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along plane 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the box pouch formed by flow wrapper apparatus from the configuration illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views, one sees that FIG. 1 discloses a flow wrapper machine 300 (it is likewise envisioned that a horizontal form fill and seal ‘HFFS’ machine could be used) wherein a web or film 100 made of polymeric material, is supplied by unwinding from a spool or reel 200. Reclosures or zippers 106 (typically comprising a plurality of re-engageable interlocking elements which can close upon themselves, such as, but not limited to, male and female interlocking elements) are supplied from a reel 202 and placed periodically along the web or film 100 in a transverse machine direction, and sealed or otherwise attached thereto. Alternately, the spool or reel 200 may be supplied with web or film 100 with the reclosures or zippers 106 pre-applied, either in a local or remote location with respect to the flow wrapper machine 300. In the embodiment of the flow wrapper machine 300 illustrated in FIG. 1, the reclosures or zippers 106 are placed on the underside of web or film 100 so that, after the web 100 traverses roller 204, the reclosures or zippers 106 are on the top surface of the web or film 100. The reclosures or zippers 106 may be those of the Zip360™ package made by Zip-Pak, Inc. or a similar reclosure or zipper which allows self-mating (i.e., which can close upon itself) closure around an periphery of a wide open mouth of a container. Velcro™ reclosures (i.e., hook-and-eye) and Aplix™ reclosures may also be used. The reclosure or zippers 106 extend across the transverse direction of the web or film 100, but do not extend fully to machine directional edges 102, 104, thereby leaving spaces 108, 110 (immediately inwardly adjacent from edges 102, 104) subsequently free of the reclosures or zipper 106 thereby leaving room for the subsequent formation of a fin seal (or, in some embodiments, a lap seal). Food items 400 (such as, but not limited to, chunks of cheese 400) are placed lengthwise in a machine direction on the web or film 100 between successively spaced traverse reclosures or zippers 106. That is, the food items 400 and the reclosures or zippers 106 are on the same side of the web or film 100. The web or film 100, with the food items 400 and reclosures or zippers 106 thereon, is transported along planar surface 206 so that food items 400 pass through control plate 208. The film or web 100 is wrapped around the food items 400 thereby bringing spaces 108, 110 of longitudinal machine directional edges 102, 104 together. A fin seal 120 is formed downstream by the sealing of spaces 108, 110 (adjacent to edges 102, 104) together by fin sealer 212 (illustrated as a pair of cooperating sealing pinch rolls, which may be replaced by sealing bars) thereby forming a continuous tube with the food items 400 periodically placed therein. Optionally, the fin seal 120 may be made to lie flat with the web or film 100 by use of fin seal flattening roller 214. Additionally, the gasses adjacent to the food items 400 may be controlled by ducts 210, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,145, entitled “Packaging Material and Device”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The tube processes further down the flow wrapper machine 300 wherein the transverse direction end seals 122, 124 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) are formed and the tube is cut by transverse sealer/cutter 216 thereby forming ends 126, 128 of the resulting package 130 (also see FIGS. 2 and 3). The reclosure or zipper 106 is located in the package 130 and is spaced from, and separate from, the end seal 122 formed on end 126 of package 130. This sealing of the reclosure or zipper 106 into the package 130 allows the reclosure of zipper 106 to stay out of the seal jaws that form end seal 122.

In the resulting package 130, the full mouth opening created through reclosure or zipper 106 allows users to easily remove the food item 400. Additionally, the use of a self-mating or similar reclosure or zipper 106 is expected to simplify the reclosure of the package thereby allowing the consumer to remove the food item 400 from the package 130 and more easily return the food item 400 to the package 130 through the full mouth opening of the reclosure or zipper 106.

Referring now to the embodiment of the disclosure illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, one sees from FIG. 4 that film or web 100 made of polymeric material is unwound from spool or reel 200 and longitudinally or machine direction quad seals 152, 154, 156, 158 are formed on the film or web 100, upstream from the roller 204, by respective drag sealers 153, 155, 157, 159. In the illustration of FIG. 4, the quad seals 152, 154, 156, 158 are formed on the upper side of the film or web 100 between the spool or reel 200 and the roller 204. Downstream from roller 204, the quad seals 152, 154, 156 are on the lower side of the web or film 100, and then ultimately on the exterior of the finished package 130. Quad seals 152, 154, 156, 158 are typically formed by a drag sealer as described in U.S. Published Patent Application 2012/0047852 entitled “Wide Mouth Gusseted Bag with Edge Seals” and published on Mar. 1, 2102 (i.e., application Ser. No. 13/036,378, from which priority is claimed). Upstream from roller 204, reclosures or zippers 106 are then placed and sealed or otherwise attached transversely across the web or film 100 at regular intervals, on the opposite side of web or film 100 from quad seals 152, 154, 156, 158 (i.e., in the illustrated embodiment, upstream from roller 204, the quad seals 152. 154, 156, 158 are formed on the upper side of web or film 100 and the reclosures or zippers 106 are placed on the lower side of web or film 100, wherein the orientation of the upper and lower sides is reversed downstream of roller 204). Alternatively, the spool or reel 200 may be supplied with film or web 100 wherein the quad seals 152, 154, 156, 158 are already formed. That is, the quad seals 152, 154, 156, 158 may be formed by drag sealers at a nearby or at a remote location and then wound onto the spool or reel 200 or a similar source. Similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, the reclosure or zippers 106 extend across the transverse direction of the web or film 100, but do not extend fully to machine directional edges 102, 104, thereby leaving spaces 108, 110 (immediately inwardly adjacent from edges 102, 104) subsequently free of the reclosures or zipper 106 thereby leaving room for the subsequent formation of a fin seal (or, in some embodiments, a lap seal). In further similarity to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, the reclosures or zippers 106 may be those of the style of the Zip360™ package made by Zip-Pak, Inc. or a similar reclosure or zipper which allows self-mating (i.e., which can close upon itself) closure around an periphery of a wide open mouth of a container. In an alternate embodiment, the reclosures or zippers 106, as well as the quad seals 152, 154, 156, 158, may be formed, sealed or placed on the web or film 100 at a local or remote location prior to being supplied to the spool or reel 200. The web or film 100, with the reclosures or zippers 106 sealed or otherwise attached thereto, enters the flow wrapper machine 300 of FIG. 1 at roller 204. As described with respect to FIG. 1, in the flow wrapper machine 300, food items 400 (such as, but not limited to, chunks of cheese 400) are placed lengthwise in a machine direction on the web or film 100, the film or web 100 is wrapped around the food items 400 thereby bringing longitudinal machine directional edges 102, 104 together. A fin seal 120 is formed by the sealing of edges 102, 104 together (see FIG. 6) thereby forming a continuous tube with the food items 400 periodically placed therein, with the quad seals 152, 154, 156, 158 at the corners of the tube. The tube processes further down the flow wrapper machine 300 wherein the transverse direction end seals (not shown, but similar to those of FIGS. 2 and 3) are formed and the tube is cut thereby forming ends (not shown, but similar to 126, 128 of FIG. 3) of the resulting package 130. The reclosure or zipper 106 is located in the package 130 and is spaced from, and separate from, the end seal formed on end of package 130. This sealing of the reclosure or zipper 106 into the package 130 allows the reclosure of zipper 106 to stay out of the seal jaws that form the end seal.

Advantages are achieved that are similar to that of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3. That is, in the resulting package 130, the full mouth opening allows users to easily remove the food item 400. Additionally, the use of a self-mating or similar reclosure or zipper 106 is expected to simplify the reclosure of the package thereby allowing the consumer to remove the food item 400 from the package 130 and more easily return the food item 400 to the package 130 through the full mouth opening of the reclosure or zipper 106.

Thus the several aforementioned objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A process of forming a package, including the steps of: providing a sheet of web; providing a length of reclosure transversely on a side of the web; loading product on the sheet of web; and providing a flow wrapping machine for bringing edges of the sheet of web together, wrapping the product, and sealing the edges of the sheet of web together thereby forming sides of a package, whereby the reclosure is on an interior of the package.
 2. The process of claim 1 further including the step of forming first and second end seals.
 3. The process of claim 2 wherein the first and second end seals are formed in a transverse direction on the web.
 4. The process of claim 1 wherein the reclosure is parallel to the first and second end seals.
 5. The process of claim 1 wherein the reclosure is separated from the first and second end seals.
 6. The process of claim 1 wherein the reclosure is inwardly situated from the first and second end seals.
 7. The process of claim 1 wherein the length of reclosure is shorter than a width of the sheet of web.
 8. The process of claim 1 wherein the length of reclosure is self-mating.
 9. The process of claim 1 wherein the reclosure includes a plurality of interlocking elements.
 10. The process of claim 9 wherein the reclosure is a zipper having a male profile and a female profile.
 11. The process of claim 1 wherein the steps of bringing edges of the sheet of web together and sealing the edges of the sheet of web further include the step of forming a fin seal with the edges of the sheet of web.
 12. The process of claim 1 wherein the sheet of web is formed from polymeric material.
 13. The process of claim 1 wherein the steps of providing a sheet of web and providing a length of reclosure transversely on a side of the web are performed by providing a sheet of web wherein lengths of reclosures have been pre-applied thereto.
 14. The process of claim 13 wherein the reclosures are pre-applied to the sheet of web at a location remote from the flow wrapper machine.
 15. A process of forming a package, including the steps of: providing a sheet of web with a first side and a second side; forming a plurality of machine direction seals on a first side of the web; providing a length of reclosure transversely on a second side of the web; loading product onto the sheet of web; and providing a flow wrapping machine for bringing edges of the sheet of web together, wrapping the product and sealing the edges of the sheet of web together thereby forming sides of a package.
 16. The process of claim 15 wherein the seals are parallel to each other.
 17. The process of claim 15 wherein the length of reclosure is shorter than a width of the sheet of web.
 18. The process of claim 15 wherein the length of reclosure is self-mating.
 19. The process of claim 15 wherein the step of bringing the edges of the sheet of web together results in the reclosure being on the interior of the package.
 20. The process of claim 15 wherein the step of bringing the edges of the sheet of web together results in the machine direction seals being on an exterior of the package.
 21. The process of claim 15 wherein the package includes corners and wherein the machine direction seals are formed at the exterior of the corners.
 22. The process of claim 15 wherein the plurality of machine direction seals includes four seals and wherein four corresponding corners are formed on the package.
 23. The process of claim 15 wherein the package includes four walls.
 24. The process of claim 15 wherein the sheet of web is formed from polymeric material.
 25. The process of claim 15 wherein the step of providing a sheet of web and the step forming a plurality of machine direction seals on a first side of the web are performed by providing spool including a sheet of web with the machine direction seals formed thereon. 